Tag: True Story

Cheating Death

Posted under NOTEBOOK

In between the fun and filled-up diapers there are quieter moments in parenting. They hit you when you let your guard down. You’ll be tucking your kid in for bed or sitting on the couch watching your child watch one of your favorite shows from childhood. He’s laughing with you. You look at each other […]



Searching For Dick Van Dyke

Posted under NOTEBOOK

About a year ago, I got the chance to visit a cool movie set. My goal? Searching for the elusive, mythical Dick Van Dyke. He’s a creature of great comedy and gravitas, but I’d never seen him in the flesh. This is bucket list material for me. So, with the help of Walt Disney Studios, […]



How A Father Looks

Posted under NOTEBOOK

I’ve had a few people tell me I don’t look like a dad. I’m not really sure what that means. Should I have my children strapped to my person? A tattoo of my kids’ names on my neck? Should the dark circles under my eyes have their own circles? What does a father look like? […]



My Father’s Search For The Fisher King

Posted under NOTEBOOK

After Robin Williams died, I was unreasonably distraught. In the context of all things, I never actually knew the man and only saw him as much as one could say they’d seen a ghost around San Francisco and Marin County. But he was ever-present. I remember seeing him around town in Marin County. I remember […]



The Wanted

Posted under SNAPSHOTS

Finn, this weekend after I put you on a timeout you said to me, “You don’t want me anymore?” If I never hear those words again in my life it will be too soon. We talked about why you thought that, what it means to be an older brother and then I asked you a […]



The Gloaming Light

Posted under SNAPSHOTS

There is a wakefulness between the purity of the aware and the somnolence of sleep that feels like anything is possible. It’s better than a dream. It’s a waking dream under my command. I haven’t felt it in some time, but I know it could be just past the horizon line. I am nearly there. […]



Father’s Daze: 13 Dads Reveal Their Struggle

Posted under NOTEBOOK

As I’ve written about before, there is something happening in the lives of fathers and their careers today. While we define ourselves differently than we did 50 years ago, dads of all sorts are finding themselves in this position across the country, and beyond, of redefining who we are with a simple but profound question: […]



Pain

Posted under NOTEBOOK

Pain. It can remind us we’re alive. And it can also steal a little bit of that aliveness away. I’m sitting, right now, in a surgery wing and my infant son is about to go under the knife. Something we thought would go away has only gotten worse. It’s time to confront it. And hopefully, […]



Sunrise or Sunset?

Posted under NOTEBOOK

Parents, there will be days when you may misremember which day it is. You will put your socks on backwards and wear clothing inside-out, from rise to fall. You will click your car key at your front door, half-expecting it to open before you. You will forget your children’s names, your spouse’s name and maybe […]



The Third First Day at School

Posted under NOTEBOOK

My youngest son just had his first day at school. As it turned out, it was so much easier for him than it was for us. You’d think it’d be no big deal, Lucas being my third son, with my two older boys having been in school for nearly a decade. Nope. You’d be wrong. […]